GI-GO / TI-TO!
By Dennis Huebshman
For the computer-oriented people, they will recognize “GI-GO” as “Garbage In, Garbage Out”. I just made up “TI-TO” as “Truth In, Truth Out”; but both totally apply to God’s word as to how it’s handled.
For some of us, we would never ever consider revising God’s Word for personal gain, or to purposely try to mislead people in order to have them receive a sentence to the Lake of Fire. Our main goal is to “share” the wonderful news that our Heavenly Father provided so that precious souls can be saved and have an eternity with Jesus and the saints from all time. We want to prepare as many as possible for the soon-coming Rapture.
Personally, I take very seriously the clear warnings of Revelation 22:18-19, “I testify to the one who hears the words of the prophecy contained in this book; if anyone adds to them, God will add to him/her the plagues described in this book. (19) And, if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God will take away his/her share of the Tree of Life and the Holy City that are described in this book.” (emphasis is mine) That is a promise from the Father, and He always keeps His word.
The Bible is a letter from the Father, that contains 66 individual sections, or books, written by about 40 Holy Spirit inspired men. It tells of the time from creation to the Messiah (Old Testament-39 books); to the arrival of the Messiah, His ministry, death burial and resurrection; and finally, what to expect in the end times. (New Testament-27 books). The New Testament also gives instructions as to how to receive Salvation and to live a life that honors the Savior.
All through the Bible are stories of people who were faithful to God, and as a result found favor with Him. None were perfect, and some even had committed major sin, but through repentance and submission were able to be used by the Father.
Then, there are those who had agendas. Usually it had to do with greed or power drives that were all self-motivated. The most blatant display of this is a fallen Angel named Lucifer or Satan. He decided he should be equal to, or even greater than, the Heavenly Father. He was convincing enough that he pulled about 1/3 of the Angels with him who are now labeled “demons”. Isaiah 14:12-15 tells how his pride overcame him, and Jesus said the Lake of Fire was prepared for him and his demons. (Matthew 25:41) In Revelation 20:10, satan receives his final judgment from God and is cast in the Hell that was made for him, never to be able to deceive anyone again.
Sad part of all this is, while there are those of us who will do all we can to bring the Truth of the Father to the world, there are as many or even more that are on satan’s agenda.
Both sections of the Bible tell of idol worshipers who made a healthy living promoting false gods. There were even “temples” built for these gods with idols made of wood, iron, stone, clay or whatever for people to bow down to. One of the most famous ones was the Golden Calf in Exodus 32. God was not pleased, and about 3000 men were killed because of it. Another time was when the prophets of BAAL and Asherah were challenged by Elijah on Mt Carmel. (1 Kings 18). Elijah proved Jehovah was the true God, and he killed all of Jezebel’s false prophets – about 850 in all.
Even during Paul’s time, people were still making a living selling silver “shrines” to gods such as Artemis, also known as Diana, and other gods. (Acts 19:24) There were near riots caused by the vendors that wanted the apostle eliminated because he was costing them money. Paul was interested in their eternal souls; they only cared about their income.
False prophets have been around a long time, but especially after the cross. From the beginning, they have been telling people what they want to hear (Garbage In), and not what they need to hear. (Truth In). The ear-tickling messages along with stage-type productions all the way to today’s time is setting up the long line to the Great White Throne (Garbage Out). As a result, Jesus knew there would be few on the straight and narrow (Matthew 7:13-14), and would be ready for the Rapture (Truth Out).
Joshua said it very plainly in Chapter 24 verse 15, “If you have no desire to worship the Lord, choose today whom you will worship; whether it be the gods whom your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates; or the gods of the Ammonites in whose land you are living. (GI-GO) But I and my family will worship the Lord.” (TI-TO)
So, with this in mind, choose today whom you will worship. All the “many ways to Heaven”, “We all worship the same god”, “Don’t really need Jesus”, and “There’s no hell anyway” people. Or, The Lord God Jehovah, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, who will not turn anyone away who will accept His Son, Jesus the Christ, who willingly sacrificed Himself, so we could have eternal life. By “accept”, we are to believe Jesus came to this earth as fully man, and fully God. He allowed Himself to be crucified (John 10:18) so the perfect sacrifice, which God required, could be met. He died as a man on the Cross, and was in the grave three days. God raised Him from the dead in an eternal body such as we will have. (His Spiritual self was with the Father immediately at the human death). He is in Heaven at the right hand of the Father awaiting the day and hour when He will take His Church (All Believers) up in the Rapture to avoid the wrath to come (Tribulation).
Finally, Jesus paid it all. The debt of our sin was covered by His blood, and our eternal lives with Him is a gift. If we will accept this wonderful gift, He will accept us. If not, we will be separated from Him forever. There are no other options, however, the choice is entirely up to each one of us.
You can go along with the world and satan, and end up in the Lake of Fire – the ultimate GI-GO. Or, you can accept Jesus and get the gift of eternal life with the creator who totally loves us – the ultimate TI-TO! Choose Wisely.
Shalom!